ABSTRACT
The study attempted to investigate the
evaluating of the effectiveness of teaching styles in the early childhood
education in selected nursery schools in Mainland Local Government Area of
Lagos State. In this study, some relevant and related literatures were reviewed
under sub-headings. The descriptive research survey design was applied in the
assessment of the opinions of the respondents with the aid of the questionnaire
and the sampling technique. A total of 150 (one hundred and fifty) respondents
were used in this study. A total of three null hypotheses were formulated and
tested in this study with the use of the Pearson Product Moment Correlation
Coefficient for hypotheses one and two, while the independent t-test
statistical tool was used for hypothesis three respectively. All the hypotheses
were tested at 0.05 level of significance. At the end of the tests, the
following results emerged: that there is a significant relationship
between teaching styles and teaching effectiveness at the early childhood education,
that there is a significant relationship between teaching styles and children’s
academic performance at the early childhood education and that there is a significant
difference between learning outcome of children taught with appropriate
teaching styles and those taught with inappropriate teaching styles at the
early childhood education.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
Background
of the Study
Statement
of the Problem
Purpose
of the Study
Objectives
of the Study
Research
Questions
Research
Hypotheses
Significance
of the Study
Scope
and Limitation of the Study
Contextual
and Operational Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Concept
of Teaching and Learning
Teaching and Related Concepts
Collecting
as a Method of Teaching Children
Scheduling
Technique as a Teaching Style in Early Childhood Education
Demonstrating
Style of Teaching Children in the Early Childhood Education
The
Use of Describing as a Method of Teaching Children in Schools
Encouraging,
Praising and Helping as Teaching Methods in Childhood Education
Facilitating
as a Method of Teaching Children
Feedback
as a Teaching Method in Early Childhood Education
The
Grouping Method as a Teaching Technique
Listening
as a Teaching Method in Early Childhood Education
Questioning
as a Good Style of Teaching Children
Reading
as a Teaching Method in Early Childhood Education
Singing
as a Good Method of Teaching Children
Summary
of Review
CHAPTER
THREE: Research Methodology
Introduction
Research
Design
Population
Sample
and Sampling Technique
Research
Instrument
Validity
of the Instrument
Reliability
of Instrument
Administration
of Instrument
Procedure
for Data Analysis
CHAPTER
FOUR: DATA ANALYSES AND RESULTS
Introduction
Descriptive Analyses of Bio-Data of
Respondents Based on Sex, Age, Qualification, Religion and Marital Status
Descriptive Analyses of Data Collected from
the Respondents Based on the Research Questions
Testing
of Hypotheses
Summary of Findings
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
Discussion of the
Findings
Summary of the
Study
Conclusion
Recommendations
REFERENCES
Teachers’ Questionnaire
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Background
of the Study
Education is a
systematic process whereby an individual is exposed to and provided with the
opportunity of acquiring knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which develop
cumulatively with a view to preparing him well to enable him to satisfactorily
integrate effectively in the society, pursue a career and sharpen his quest for
continuous learning. Education involves teaching, and teaching has been
generally defined by Encyclopedia Americana (1995) as to educate, instruct,
discipline or an act of imparting knowledge to a learner. According to Ekueme
and Igwe (2001) it is the art and practice of imparting to the learner skills,
values and norms that can be useful to the total development of the individual
(Anyanwu, 2003).
There is no gain
saying the fact hat the method(s) adopted by a teacher, affects the learning
outcomes of the students or children. For instance, professional and well
experienced teachers know the appropriate teaching methods to use at any given
time of their teaching – learning process. Experienced and properly trained
teachers know what to and how to teach at the various levels of our educational
system (the pre-primary; the primary; the secondary, and the tertiary) levels.
At the pre-primary level, care must be taken by professional teachers to adopt
the down-to-earth method(s) of teaching the child because of immaturity at that
level (Enoch, 2002).
According to
Anyankanshi (2000), at the early childhood stage, teachers ought to apply the
methods in their teaching that will assist the child to learn the necessary
things he/she ought to learn, rather than being confused and failing to learn
what he/she ought to learn. Anyakanshi recommended four types of teaching
styles – the play-way; the gaming and stimulation; the role playing method and
the demonstrator methods of teaching. He is of the opinion that, the play-way
method affords the child the ample opportunity to express himself freely in a
play-way environment as children love to play naturally. Concerning the gaming
method, Anyakanshi opined that the gaming and stimulation method, like the
play-away method, is an excellent method of teaching children at the early
stage, as it makes the child to be stimulated about the things he/she is
learning. The role playing method teaching also allows the child to
practicalize what is going on in the classroom. This is because, the role a
child plays in the classroom during teaching, ever remains indelible in the
brain of the child, while the group activity method of teaching the child,
enables him/her to learn from his/her peers. This method is very good as it
enables the children to trade ideas and learn from one another in group (Uzoma,
2004).
Recent research on
teacher effectiveness has produced a number of findings that should be of
interest to those who work with young children, particularly in the primary
grades. Although results of these studies are by no means conclusive, and
possibly cannot be, they do provide a fairly accurate description of how
effective teachers operate in their classrooms. This description suggests that
effective teachers (i.e.) teachers whose classes consistently show gains in
achievement rely on traditional methods of instruction, at least in the basic
skills. This is not to say that open education or child-centered teaching
methods are not useful in early childhood education. These methods are
sometimes essential to reach certain curriculum goals. But current findings
suggest the wisdom of a return to the basics in teaching methods, as well as in
curriculum, for early childhood education (Blaney, 2006).
The research findings
that support traditional methods for teaching basic skills come from major
studies conducted in the U.S.A.
and in Great Britain.
The term “traditional” should perhaps be defined. Here it does not mean rigidly
structured lessons for the entire class. As the word is used here it means
teacher-directed instruction of small groups. Findings from a number of studies
suggest that it might be wise to modify traditional methods if they are to be
effective in helping young children learn, though nothing radically new or
unique is suggested by the current findings. Surely, it is interesting and
confronting to know the many commonly used teaching methods are effective
(Adamson, 2000).
The various teaching
style that one uses in a classroom can have a profound impact on students’
comprehension. In early childhood education, there are various teaching styles
examples of which includes the play-way method, self discovery, group activity
method, demonstrator style, gaming and stimulation style, role playing,
bulletin board styles etc. Teaching styles could be seen as all embracing
concept referring to the teacher’s way of getting students to learn through
structured methodology in order to bring about positive learning outcome (Arnolds, 2002).
According to Glender
and Gillian (2004), teaching style is the way of introducing the students to
give attention to what is to be learnt. The teacher directs their attention to
what is to be learnt, he observes the students and diagnoses their feelings and
interests and follow as best as he can, the progress of their understanding.
Research into
teacher’s choice of teaching methods suggest that many teachers have a fairly
narrow and conservative repertoire of teacher’s behaviours which often mimic
those teaching methods they experience in their own schooling. According to
Adegbiji (1997) teaching younger children is challenging and rewarding and
whatever approach or strategies a teacher adopts to teach these young ones goes
a long way to bring effectiveness to their learning, hence the need to evaluate
the styles.
Evaluation involves
assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programmes, policies, personnel
products, methods and organizations to improve their effectiveness. Rossi and
Fireman (1993) define evaluation as the systematic application of social
research procedure for assessing the conceptualization, design, implementation
and utility of programmes. In addition, evaluation in education can identify
effectiveness of the method used in carrying out instruction and the impact of
the child’s knowledge and attitudes.
The fact that early
childhood is unique and precious, brings about the need for this study on what
appropriate teaching styles to be used to achieve effectiveness in early
childhood education. The principles underpinning the approach to teaching in
this study are based on the following facts:
1.
That all children deserve excellent teaching.
2.
Teaching is highly complex and dynamic, making
the process about how best to respond to the children in supporting their
learning.
3.
That careful and critical reflection on
teaching styles should be relevant to teaching goal.
4.
That teaching styles should be relevant to all
children, that is, they must be developmentally appropriate.
5.
It is also based on the fact that teaching
styles should be anti-discriminatory and drawing on information about the best
practice from the research and international developments in early childhood
field (Glender and Gillian, 2004).
It is in the light of
these considerations that this study was carried out to evaluate the
effectiveness of teaching styles in early childhood education with a view to
finding solution to the problems of wrong choice of teaching styles and
strategies for teaching the young ones.
Statement
of the Problem
Teaching methods or
styles, no doubt, affect the learnability of the child. This is because, the
method of a teacher adopts, to a large extent, determines the outcomes of the
child. Therefore, good teaching methods bring high academic achievement, while
bad teaching method generally results into rote learning and low academic
outcomes amongst the children, especially at the early childhood stage.
These days, most
teaching styles teachers adopt in coaching the children at the early childhood
education are faulty and the resultant effects, have been rote learning, low
academic achievement and general poor standards of education in Nigeria as a
whole. This is because in Nigeria,
teaching profession has been infiltrated by a lot of charlatans and
unprofessional teachers who do not have any business in the classrooms. Due to
the fact that the teaching profession has not been regulated, untrained and
inexperienced teachers in other words, known as “cheats”, have entered the
stage and brazenly bastardized the teaching profession. These untrained teachers,
adopt the negative and inappropriate methods of teaching the child.
Consequently, this has brought about negative results of low performance by the
child, because no child will ever rise higher than the knowledge of his/her
teacher.
The study attempted to
examine the evaluation of the effectiveness of teaching styles in the early
childhood education.
Purpose
of the Study
The study aimed at
evaluating some teaching styles and their effectiveness among teachers in some
selected early childhood institutions in Lagos Mainland Local Government Area
of Lagos State.
Objectives
of the Study
The specific
objectives of this study are to:
1.
Emphasize the need to use appropriate teaching
styles and techniques in early childhood institutions.
2.
Identify some teaching styles that are highly
effective in teaching young children.
3.
Ascertain the impact of inappropriate use of
teaching styles and techniques for the child.
4.
Examine the teaching styles that are commonly
used by teachers in some selected early childhood institutions.
5.
find out whether there will be any difference
between learning outcome of children taught with appropriate teaching styles
and those taught with inappropriate teaching styles at the early childhood
education.
Research
Questions
The following research
questions were raised in this study:
1.
What is the need for appropriate teaching
styles for the early childhood institutions?
2.
What teaching styles are highly effective for
early childhood education?
3.
What is the impact of the inappropriate use of
teaching styles in child learning?
4.
What teaching styles are commonly used by the
teachers in early childhood institutions?
5.
Is there any difference between learning
outcome of children taught with appropriate teaching styles and those taught
with inappropriate teaching styles at the early childhood education?
Research
Hypotheses
The
following hypotheses are formulated and tested in this study:
H01: There will be no significant relationship
between teaching styles and teaching effectiveness at the early childhood
education.
H02: There will be no significant relationship
between teaching styles and children’s academic performance at the early
childhood education.
H03: There will be no significant difference
between learning outcome of children taught with appropriate teaching styles
and those taught with inappropriate teaching styles at the early childhood
education.
Significance
of the Study
It is a general belief
that early childhood education is of great importance, because it is the
foundation for other level of education just as foundation is the strength of
the structure. The study shows some features of effective teaching styles and
at the same time create awareness about some appropriate and effective teaching
styles and techniques in early childhood education. However, the
recommendations and findings of this work would be beneficial to the following:
1.
To
the children: They will be able to enjoy the use of
appropriate teaching styles, thereby making learning interesting and eventful.
2.
To
the parents: They will be able to get values for their
money and commitment to the education of their wards through better academic
performance.
3.
To
the teachers: The teacher will be able to overcome the
problem of using inappropriate teaching styles and thereby experience a result
oriented teaching.
4.
To
the school authority: The school will be able to supervise
thoroughly and ensure the use of appropriate teaching styles through their
knowledge of features of these teaching styles.
5.
To
the government: The government will be able to put in place
policy that will make teachers to undergo training and workshop that will avail
them the knowledge of different teaching styles for the institutions in the
country.
Scope
and Limitation of the Study
The study is aimed at
evaluating teaching effectiveness in selected public and private early
childhood institutions in Lagos Mainland of Lagos State and the findings may be
generalized to the whole state or other states in Nigeria.
This study would also
examine teaching styles as a vital tool to learning for early childhood
education.
Contextual
and Operational Definition of Terms
The study would
constantly make use of the following terms: Early Childhood Education, Teaching
Styles, Teaching Techniques and Teaching Effectiveness.
1.
Teaching
styles: It is an embracing concept referring to the teacher’s
ways of getting students to learn through structured methodology.
2.
Early
childhood education: Formal education that is received from three
to six years.
3.
Teaching
effectiveness: The ability of the teacher to achieve the
stated objectives at the end of the teaching.
4.
Teaching
techniques: Teacher’s ways or method of teaching.
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